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Oxygenating all hospital beds necessary to breathe easy

The Visakhapatnam district has already seen two waves of COVID-19 and the second one was a very severe one.

In the first wave that extended from March 2020 to March 2021, the cases recorded were close to 60,000 and the deaths were around 400. But in the second wave that lasted just about four months from March to till date, the district recorded close to 90,000 cases, with April and May being the months when the cases peaked to around 70,000. The death toll was also over 600.

Both the waves have been a learning experience for the district administration, as well as the medical fraternity.

“During the first wave, we saw a gradual increase in cases, with the peak months being July and August. During that period we were still grappling with the treatment for the pandemic and virus was not that virulent and the progression of the disease was over a period of time that ranged from one week to 15 days. The dependence on oxygenated beds or ICU was not that heavy,” said District COVID Special Officer and Principal of Andhra Medical College P.V. Sudhakar told The Hindu.

But according to him, the second wave saw an unprecedented demand for oxygenated beds, as the mutant virus was highly virulent and the progression of the disease was very fast. There were a number of cases, when a patient had become serious within 48 hours and had to be put on steroids and oxygen, he added.

For the medical fraternity, the second wave was a big learning experience as it hit fast and hard.

The biggest learning experience was the need for oxygenating all available beds.

“During the second wave, we had sourced about 7,000 beds, both private and government hospitals, and of which around 1,000 were ICU beds and around 3,000 were oxygenated beds. Practically, the remaining 3,000 beds were of no use and that was a big learning experience,” said Dr. Sudhakar.

As of now, in a 100-bedded hospital, around 10 are ICU beds and about 20 are oxygenated. Learning from the past the district administration has now decided to provide some system of oxygen to all the beds.

Through GO No. 57, the State government has mandated that every hospital, including in the private sector, with about 100 beds, should have at least 100 D-type oxygen cylinders in reserve and one oxygen generation plant. In 50-bedded hospitals, there should be at least 50 D-type cylinders and the DMHO has been asked to look into it. This will act as a preparatory measure for the possible third wave, he said.

During the second wave, the government hospitals such as KGH, VIMS and Chest Hospital, have come as a rescue.

“In the KGH CSR block, all the 500 beds are oxygenated. Similarly in VIMS all the 400 and 280 beds in the GHCCD (chest hospital), are oxygenated. These beds had pulled us out of the second wave, with some support from the 80 odd private hospitals, which were notified as COVID hospitals under category A and B,” said Dr. Sudhakar.

The way forward is to oxygenate all beds in all hospitals in the district, to fight the pandemic in the future, he said. The Hindu

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